What a crazy ride this thing is we call life. Sigh. On November 4, I lost my beloved 15 year old Basenji, Ash. Four weeks later, his housemate, Pandora, followed him unexpectedly. It was a crushing blow surrounding the holidays that has left our household in an emotional fog. And because I trust that our hearts are big enough to share, we rescued two kittens, Graham Cracker and Charlie (who are still determining the pecking order, ahem), who now have a forever home in time for Christmas. We love them already and they are slowly filling the hole left by our canine friends. And amidst the roller coaster of grief and joy, memories and moments, I’m greeted one evening with #VATMOSS. What’s that, you say? Why, it’s the boogeyman of micro-business, which has its claws embedded in the meat of every seller and consumer. If you’d like to learn more, you can read a wonderful blog post (from the perspective of a micro-business owner) by Heather-Beads, or a more thorough explanation by Rachel Andrew. I will spare you the detail, but will sum up with the following points:

It’s a nasty tax law that will impact the services and products available to the EU, and globally, and will put an undue administrative and financial strain on the micro-business owner.

The end. That’s all you need to know in order to understand its importance (though I certainly encourage you to research the specifics). It affects all sellers of digital goods and, soon, any goods. It affects me, and the services I provide to you. I can no longer offer digital downloads (temporarily, at least), and all tutorial purchases will be emailed manually. I do this on occasion anyway, so the impact to me and to the customers who have come to depend on the services I provide, are some of the least impacted. However, many creative sellers and artists are simply removing their digital downloads entirely, to avoid the soul-sucking bundle of #VATMESS requirements. Other venues through which I sell my tutorials may also be impacted, though have yet to clarify what their future holds, further limiting (potentially) an affordable option for Nicole Hanna Jewelry tutorials. News will come on that soon, I’m sure. However, I will still sell tutorials here through the “Tutorials” tab in the menu bar, but sadly without the convenience of an immediate electronic transfer. Also, you’ll notice a requirement to enter a physical address for the receipt of all digital goods. This is an unfortunate requirement of the platform through which I sell. However, you should, if business owners are aware of (and compliant of) these new regulations, see this requirement across the board. #EUVAT now requires the collection of data containing two non-conflicting proofs of the buyers location. Intense, right? I hope you can forgive me my inactivity as late. I’ve been trying to find an alternative that didn’t alter your experience as the customer, while still providing affordable lessons, and it’s been quite the journey. As early as 2016, #VATMESS could apply to all products sold, and many micro-businesses will (undoubtedly) close their doors. If you’d like to help make sure this doesn’t happen, please sign this petition to ask lawmakers to suspend this law for the micro-business, sole-proprietor. But, on a positive note, I’m having a Tree of Life pendant giveaway on Instagram. Find me on instagram @nicolehannajewelry to find the giveaway photo. To enter, re-share the photo (using an app such as Regram or simply by capturing a screen shot, saving it to your device and uploading), and tagging me @nicolehannajewelry #nicolehannajewelrygiveaway. Winner will be randomly drawn at 1000 followers, and announced within 24 hours. Thank you for your support and happy weaving! Nicole